Turkey Talk

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Cliff H.

Master Chef
Joined
Mar 18, 2006
Messages
6,143
Location
Jonesboro, Arkansas
What about the apples in the fire box ?

Wood ? No Wood ?

If you were going to hold the bird in a cooler for a few hours what would be the best temp to pull at ?

Lots of questions. Thursday is coming quick. :shock:
 
Cliff H. said:
What about the apples in the fire box ?

Wood ? No Wood ?

If you were going to hold the bird in a cooler for a few hours what would be the best temp to pull at ?

Lots of questions. Thursday is coming quick. :shock:

Cliff,
I wouldn't hold the bird for very long in the cooler as I feel it would mess with the texture of the meat. If you wanna be safe cook the bird the day before and eat cold/cool (my favorite way) or you could reheat in the oven if you prefer hot. After pulling the turkey off the pit it will stay very hot for a couple hours if you tent it with foil, so that could be another option if you chose to cook the day of.

I predominately use hickory wood for 99% of everything I cook and it goes very well with turkeys. Any fruit wood would be great with turkeys as well.

I've seen people use apples in the firebox, not sure what if any advantage it has cause I've never tried it. I will say if you want to add apple flavor to your turkey, inject it with a little apple juice and butter and any rubs or herbs you'd like to add as well. That's a very quick and simple route to take that adds a tremendous amount of flavor to turkeys.

Or if you want to go all out you could try the Apple Brine recipe. I have never tried this particular recipe, but I've seen nothing but raves about it.

I use the neck and the giblets from the turkey along with other necks and giblets I've saved in the freezer to make the gravy.


Good luck, hope your turkey turns out great!
 
brian j said:
Puff said:
Stuff it with apples, no wood, cook in oven ;) :D
blasphemy. :D

i got a question for you... what about turkey gravy? that's the only thing i don't have figured out yet. in years past i've made gravy from the drippings even though i've brined the bird. i just used lots of water to help dilute it. this year i wanted to try making the gravy a head of time. so far the only recipe i've come up with is this (http://busycooks.about.com/od/saucesand ... dgravy.htm). anyone got a better idea?

oh yea, no apples in the firebox. put apple wood in the firebox and quartered apples in the bird. ;)



What I always do is cook turkey in a pan, on a rack, in the smoker, like you would do in an oven...

add, and disperse on botton of pan:

a cup of white wine/ and a cup of apple juice( or 2 cups of water, if you prefer) do not let liquid touch bottom of bird
1 roughly diced carrot
1 roughly sliced onion and or 2-3 scallions, roughly chopped
4-5 cloves of smashed garlic
1 medium sized potato, 1/4'erd
add a sprig of rsemary, if you like that flavor..

smoke turkey as usual..

with about an hour left to go in your cooking time, pour off all the liquid from the pan, into a bowl of some size, enough to hold all the liquid...remove veggies, as well

return turkey to smoker to finish... in the pan, or without pan, your choice...

put a tray of icecubes into the bowl of liquid from the pan.... let sit about 15-20 minutes, and the fat will coogulate around the ice cubes... with a slotted spoon, remove fatted up icecubes... your gravy liquid is now ready .. proceed as usual with your gravy making

If you like a rustic, thicker type gravy, put veggires from the pan into cuisinart type chopper and pulverise...add a little heavy cream to give it a smoother flavor, add to finished gravy product..
 
Cliff H. said:
What about the apples in the fire box ?

Wood ? No Wood ?

If you were going to hold the bird in a cooler for a few hours what would be the best temp to pull at ?

Lots of questions. Thursday is coming quick. :shock:


I tried apples in the firebox last W/E when i did a duck.. did not add anything in my opinion....
 
From what I've read on the net, some have put apples in the firebox,
but while the air smells great, there's no real flavor difference in the meat.
 
I always pull turkey at 175 in the thigh..which aint quite high enough..180 be ideal if you can get the thigh to that point without completely drying out the breastes. It be good wrapped in the hot box for half a day or better. Little wood would be good. Think I would skip the apples.

bigwheel




Cliff H. said:
What about the apples in the fire box ?

Wood ? No Wood ?

If you were going to hold the bird in a cooler for a few hours what would be the best temp to pull at ?

Lots of questions. Thursday is coming quick. :shock:
 
I'm going to roast my bird in the Weber kettle. Indirect heat with a foil drip pan. Lay bacon slices across the breast during the cook. Been doing it that way for Turkeyday for more years than I care to remember. Besides, it the only time the Weber gets a workout since I got Einstein.

Using charcoal instead of lump. Just a tradition I can't get away from.
 
Yeppers breastes down the whole time. Feets toward the fire if you cooking on an offset. It do be legal to flip it right side up right toward the end (last half hour or so) and squirt it down with some butter flavor PAM a time or two. That will give it a nice color. Now how purty it will be is dependent on if your breastes skin sticks to the grates..but regardless of the beauty contest it will be infinitely more edible than doing it vice versa.

bigwheel


Cliff H. said:
BW, I plan to cook breast down the whole time per your advice. You think thats still the best way ? Has anything changed ?
 
I think I know to answer to this but if you are frying a turkey should the pop up therm be taken outta the bird before it's fried?? Can't imagine the thing would melt.....
 
brian j said:
[quote="Man's Best Friend BBQ":2ily84jv]I think I know to answer to this but if you are frying a turkey should the pop up therm be taken outta the bird before it's fried?? Can't imagine the thing would melt.....
alton brown pulled his out before cooking. i plan to do the same.[/quote:2ily84jv]

Thanks, I figured it wouldn't be of much use anyway......
 
Man's Best Friend BBQ said:
I think I know to answer to this but if you are frying a turkey should the pop up therm be taken outta the bird before it's fried?? Can't imagine the thing would melt.....

I would take it out regardless of how you cook it!!! All the turkeys/chickens you buy in the store with them already in place are set to go off at 180* in the breast, which is way over done. However you can buy pop up therm's that are set to go off at different temperatures.
 
Larry Wolfe said:
[quote="Man's Best Friend BBQ":3tadeqi4]I think I know to answer to this but if you are frying a turkey should the pop up therm be taken outta the bird before it's fried?? Can't imagine the thing would melt.....

I would take it out regardless of how you cook it!!! All the turkeys/chickens you buy in the store with them already in place are set to go off at 180* in the breast, which is way over done. However you can buy pop up therm's that are set to go off at different temperatures.[/quote:3tadeqi4]

Well, I plan to cook 3 1/2 min per lb. Got a couple of fresh 14lbers on order to pick up tomorrow. Cook at 350* and pull em at about 50 minutes, check the thigh with the trusty thermapen and pull at 170* let it rest till it hits 180*....does this sound accurate???
 
Man's Best Friend BBQ said:
[quote="Larry Wolfe":3y9wuiqs][quote="Man's Best Friend BBQ":3y9wuiqs]I think I know to answer to this but if you are frying a turkey should the pop up therm be taken outta the bird before it's fried?? Can't imagine the thing would melt.....

I would take it out regardless of how you cook it!!! All the turkeys/chickens you buy in the store with them already in place are set to go off at 180* in the breast, which is way over done. However you can buy pop up therm's that are set to go off at different temperatures.[/quote:3y9wuiqs]

Well, I plan to cook 3 1/2 min per lb. Got a couple of fresh 14lbers on order to pick up tomorrow. Cook at 350* and pull em at about 50 minutes, check the thigh with the trusty thermapen and pull at 170* let it rest till it hits 180*....does this sound accurate???[/quote:3y9wuiqs]

Sounds like a good plan, but it doesn't have to get to 180* to be safe to eat.
 
Larry Wolfe said:
[quote="Man's Best Friend BBQ":34tm44ho][quote="Larry Wolfe":34tm44ho][quote="Man's Best Friend BBQ":34tm44ho]I think I know to answer to this but if you are frying a turkey should the pop up therm be taken outta the bird before it's fried?? Can't imagine the thing would melt.....

I would take it out regardless of how you cook it!!! All the turkeys/chickens you buy in the store with them already in place are set to go off at 180* in the breast, which is way over done. However you can buy pop up therm's that are set to go off at different temperatures.[/quote:34tm44ho]

Well, I plan to cook 3 1/2 min per lb. Got a couple of fresh 14lbers on order to pick up tomorrow. Cook at 350* and pull em at about 50 minutes, check the thigh with the trusty thermapen and pull at 170* let it rest till it hits 180*....does this sound accurate???[/quote:34tm44ho]

Sounds like a good plan, but it doesn't have to get to 180* to be safe to eat.[/quote:34tm44ho]

Ok, how about pullin it at 160*
 
Man's Best Friend BBQ said:
[quote="Larry Wolfe":cbw9mrj7][quote="Man's Best Friend BBQ":cbw9mrj7][quote="Larry Wolfe":cbw9mrj7][quote="Man's Best Friend BBQ":cbw9mrj7]I think I know to answer to this but if you are frying a turkey should the pop up therm be taken outta the bird before it's fried?? Can't imagine the thing would melt.....

I would take it out regardless of how you cook it!!! All the turkeys/chickens you buy in the store with them already in place are set to go off at 180* in the breast, which is way over done. However you can buy pop up therm's that are set to go off at different temperatures.[/quote:cbw9mrj7]

Well, I plan to cook 3 1/2 min per lb. Got a couple of fresh 14lbers on order to pick up tomorrow. Cook at 350* and pull em at about 50 minutes, check the thigh with the trusty thermapen and pull at 170* let it rest till it hits 180*....does this sound accurate???[/quote:cbw9mrj7]

Sounds like a good plan, but it doesn't have to get to 180* to be safe to eat.[/quote:cbw9mrj7]

Ok, how about pullin it at 160*[/quote:cbw9mrj7]

Actually you could pull it at 160* and still be safe. I pull my turkeys by the breast temp, always between 160-165* and the thighs are typically several degrees higher around 170*. Then I tent with foil and let rest about an hour before slicing.
 
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